Values of the Royal Commonwealth Society
Written by Gareth Spanglett   
Thursday, 04 January 2007

As members of the Royal Commonwealth Society of Canada...

Stewardship...
  • WE AFFIRM our respect for the whole of the natural world and acknowledge our responsibility for exercising our stewardship with care and consideration for all its elements.
Dignity of each person...
  • WE AFFIRM our common faith in the dignity and unique worth of the human person, independant of colour, class or creed.
Justice and peace...
  • WE AFFIRM our common faith in the need to establish justice for every individual and through common effort to secure peace and reconciliation between nations.
Loving relationships...
  • WE AFFIRM our common faith in the need to assert the supremacy of love in all human relationships.
Service and Sacrifice...
  • WE AFFIRM our membership of one of the human family an our concern to express it in service and sacrifice for the common good.
Cooperation and friendship...
  • WE AFFIRM that the aim of the Royal Commonwealth Society is to promote consultation, cooperation and friendship throughout the Commonwealth, with the Queen as the Head of the Commonwealth.
Promote understanding... The Royal Commonwealth Society received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1882. It is both a learned Society and a club, financed by a world-wide membership, whose aims are to promote internationally the spread of knowledge and understanding of the peoples and countries of the Commonwealth.
Foster equality & dignity... The Commonwealth has evolved over a period of three centuries, into a unique practical community of peoples, the main aims of which are to foster human equality and dignity and to achieve a more equitable international society.
Contribute to the modern world... The fascinating thing is that this community has developed out of an empire which was in many ways its antithesis. Herein lies one reason for the diversity which enables it to make a special contribution in the modern world. Almost every race and religion, every type of national economy, many styles of government and many political systems are represented among the countries and over 1000 million people, who in every continent and ocean make up the contemporary Commonwealth.
A remarkable history... What makes the community so remarkable is that it has changed from an empire based on inequality of race and economic opportunity into a voluntary equal partnership concerned increasingly with the attainment of a new and more just economic order in the world as a whole. What makes it so useful is the ease and informality with which, from Heads of Government downwards, its people communicate through a common and working language against a shared administrative, legal and educational background.
An opportunity to influence... The Society believes that the Commonwealth is an important influence for good in the world. The value of this community, almost one-third of the world's population, lies in its great diversity of races, cultures, creeds and political beliefs, and in its ability to communicate and act constructively for peaceful ends. In this process contacts among the young are a vital element in creating understanding and tolerance between different peoples and countries.